• According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, contract drug developer Pharmaceutical Product Development, Inc. (NASDAQ:PPDI) is looking to sell itself

• Share prices of U.S. Gold Corporation (NYSE:UXG) gained 5.25% to close at $7.02 after gold futures moved above the $1,600 per ounce mark on the New York Mercantile Exchange

• Bloomberg reported that Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) may further delay its plans to increase dividends because of mounting mortgage losses

• Battery manufacturer Valence Technology, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:VLNC) shares gained 7.77% after the company increased its first quarter revenue outlook for the fiscal year

• Auto insurance company Allstate Corp.’s (NYSE:ALL) shares slipped 4.95% after Joseph Lacher, the president of the company decided to step down. Allstate is the second largest home and auto insurer in the United States

• Analysts at JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) downgraded shares of social networking site LinkedIn (NYSE:LNKD) from “Overweight” rating to “Sell” rating. Reacting to the downgrade, the company’s shares fell 6.85% to close at $102.44

• Shares of MGIC Investment Corp. (NYSE:MTG) lost 23.00% a day after the private-mortgage insurer reported second quarter losses due to a higher incidence of loan defaults

• Share prices of Nabi Biopharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:NABI) plunged 66.43% after the pharma-company said its smoke-cessation drug has returned disappointing results.

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